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'''''Training Day''''' is a 2001 American [[crime film]] directed by [[Antoine Fuqua]], written by [[David Ayer]], and starring [[Denzel Washington]] and [[Ethan Hawke]]. The story follows two [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] [[Narc (Narcotics)|narcotics detectives]] over a 24-hour period in the gang neighborhoods of [[Northwest Los Angeles|North West]] and [[South Los Angeles|South Central Los Angeles]].
'''''Training Day''''' is a 2001 American [[crime film]] directed by [[Antoine Fuqua]]. The film stars [[Denzel Washington]] and [[Ethan Hawke]]. The story follows two [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] [[Narc (Narcotics)|narcotics detectives]] over a 24-hour period in the gang neighborhoods of [[Northwest Los Angeles|North West]] and [[South Los Angeles|South Central Los Angeles]].


The film was a box office success and earned mostly positive critical appraisal. Washington's performance, a departure from his usual roles, was particularly praised and earned him an [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] at the [[74th Academy Awards]]. His co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] for his performance as a rookie cop.
The film was a box office success and earned mostly positive critical appraisal. Washington's performance, a departure from his usual roles, was particularly praised and earned him an [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] at the [[74th Academy Awards]]. His co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor]] for his performance as a rookie cop.
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[[Category:2001 films]]
[[Category:2001 films]]
[[Category:2000s crime thriller films]]
[[Category:2000s crime films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:American crime thriller films]]
[[Category:American crime thriller films]]

Revision as of 11:10, 8 July 2014

Training Day
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAntoine Fuqua
Written byDavid Ayer
Produced byBobby Newmyer
Jeffrey Silver
StarringDenzel Washington
Ethan Hawke
CinematographyMauro Fiore
Edited byConrad Buff
Music byMark Mancina
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • September 21, 2001 (2001-09-21)
Running time
122 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$45 million[1]
Box office$104.5 million[1]

Training Day is a 2001 American crime film directed by Antoine Fuqua. The film stars Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. The story follows two LAPD narcotics detectives over a 24-hour period in the gang neighborhoods of North West and South Central Los Angeles.

The film was a box office success and earned mostly positive critical appraisal. Washington's performance, a departure from his usual roles, was particularly praised and earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor at the 74th Academy Awards. His co-star Ethan Hawke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a rookie cop.

Plot

The film follows a day in the life of a Los Angeles Police Department officer, Jake Hoyt, scheduled to be evaluated by Detective Alonzo Harris, a highly decorated LAPD narcotics officer. In Alonzo's car, the officer sees teenage Mara Salvatrucha gang members dealing drugs in a park. Alonzo confiscates the drugs and tells Jake to take a hit from the marijuana. Jake refuses, but Alonzo puts a gun to his head and says Jake's failure to use drugs could get him killed by a street dealer.

Jake relents and smokes the marijuana. Alonzo then tells him the marijuana was laced with PCP. While driving, Jake notices a female high school student named Letty being sexually assaulted. Jake tackles and subdues the attackers, while Alonzo watches. Alonzo tells Letty to leave. Jake objects but Alonzo says that street justice has been served—the two men lost their money and crack, and Letty's cousins may take revenge. Jake finds Letty's wallet on the ground and takes it.

Alonzo and Jake later apprehend a wheelchair-bound drug dealer named Blue and find crack rocks and a loaded handgun on him. In exchange for his freedom, Blue reveals his associate: Kevin "Sandman" Miller, imprisoned at the time. Alonzo takes Jake to Sandman's home in Watts where he uses a fake search warrant to steal drug money from the premises. Sandman's wife, however, notices and calls out to the nearby armed gang members who open fire. Barely managing to escape, an irate Jake again objects Alonzo's actions, to no avail. The duo then visit Alonzo's Salvadoran mistress Sara and their young son at Baldwin Village. Afterward, Alonzo meets with a group of high-ranking police officials dubbed the "Three Wise Men". They tell Alonzo they know he owes money to the Russian Mafia and suggest that he leave town. But Alonzo insists he can control the situation and gets permission to "cash in on an account". Alonzo later tells Jake that he had to give Sandman's money to the Three Wise Men to obtain an arrest warrant.

Alonzo takes Jake and three other narcotic officers to the home of Roger, a drug dealer and former police officer the duo visited earlier. Using the warrant, they seize several million dollars from underneath the floor of Roger's kitchen, but Jake refuses to take his share of the cash. Alonzo then kills Roger and arranges the scene to appear like a justified shooting. Jake refuses to lie and, after being threatened, seizes Alonzo's shotgun. A Mexican standoff ensues. Alonzo calms his associates and claims that the LAPD will run a blood test on Jake, the result of which he can falsify in exchange for Jake's cooperation. Jake reluctantly agrees.

Alonzo drives Jake to the home of a gangster named "Smiley", allegedly to run an errand. He furtively abandons Jake as Jake reluctantly plays poker with Smiley and his gang members. A tense conversation ensues in which Smiley reveals Alonzo's situation: By midnight, Alonzo must pay $1 million to the Russian mob for killing one of their couriers in Las Vegas or be killed himself. But Jake realizes too late that Alonzo has paid Smiley to kill him and is subdued and dragged to the shower. There, the gang finds the wallet dropped by Letty, who is Smiley's cousin. Smiley calls Letty, who confirms that a police officer risked his life to defend her. In gratitude for protecting his cousin, Smiley lets Jake go.

Jake returns to Sara's apartment looking for Alonzo. He attempts to arrest Alonzo, but a gunfight ensues. Jake eventually subdues him, after which the local gang members and residents begin congregating to watch. Alonzo tries to get the crowd on his side by offering a reward to whoever kills Jake, but they have grown tired of Alonzo's arrogance and allow Jake to walk away with the money. In an attempt to escape via Los Angeles International Airport, Alonzo gets killed by Russian mafia, his death being broadcast over the news in a hauntingly similar way that Alonzo told Jake earlier in the film.

Cast

Production

Fuqua wanted Washington's character to be seductive and part of a machine, and not just a random rogue cop. In Washington's own words:

I think in some ways he’s done his job too well. He’s learned how to manipulate, how to push the line further and further, and, in the process, he’s become more hard-core than some of the guys he’s chasing.[2]

As detailed on the DVD's commentary, Fuqua also saw Hawke's character as generally honorable but so driven by ambition that he was willing to compromise his principles, particularly when following the charming and persuasive example of Washington's character. Also in the DVD commentary, Fuqua says that he fought with studio executives who wanted to cut the Three Wise Men scene, thinking it slowed the film. Fuqua insisted that the Wise Men scene was pivotal in establishing that at least some of Alonzo's illegal actions were sanctioned by his superiors who regarded unethical behavior as a necessary evil.

Antoine Fuqua wanted Training Day to look as authentic as possible, and he shot on location in some of the most infamous neighborhoods of Los Angeles. He even obtained permission to shoot in the Imperial Courts housing project, the first time L.A. street gangs had allowed cameras to be brought into that neighborhood. The crew also filmed in Hoover Block and Baldwin Village.[3] Parts of the film were shot on a dead end street called Palmwood Drive, where the Black P. Stones Blood gang members were seen on the rooftops. Cle Shaheed Sloan, the gang technical advisor of Training Day, managed to get on screen real-life gang members from Rollin' 60 Crips, PJ Watts Crips, and B. P. Stones (a Bloods set).

According to Fuqua's commentary on the DVD release of the film, the actors and crew ended up receiving a warm welcome from local residents. When Fuqua was unable to shoot a scene directly on location, he recreated the locations on sets.

There were also two police officers on hand as technical advisors, Michael Patterson and Paul Lozada (the latter from the San Francisco Police Department). Washington, Hawke and other cast members also met with undercover police officers, local drug dealers, and gang members to help them understand their roles better.[3]

Release

Critical response

The film received mostly positive reviews upon release, and Denzel Washington's portrayal of Alonzo Harris gathered glowing praise from critics.

The review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 72% of critics gave positive reviews based on 152 reviews.[4] Roger Ebert gave the film three-out-of-four stars, praising both the lead and supporting actors and the film's gritty, kinetic energy. However, Ebert was bothered by several plot holes and wrote that "[a] lot of people are going to be leaving the theater as I did, wondering about the logic and plausibility of the last 15 minutes."[5]

Box office

The film was released in theaters on October 5, 2001, and was a box office hit, landing at #1. At its second week of release, the film's gross revenue was $13,386,457, landing again in the #1 position. The film stayed in the top-ten box office until the seventh week of release, landing at #12. With an estimated budget of $45 million, Training Day ultimately grossed $76,631,907 domestically and $104,876,233 worldwide.[6]

Music

Main article: Training Day (soundtrack)

A soundtrack containing hip hop music was released on September 11, 2001, by Priority Records. It peaked at 35 on the Billboard 200 and 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and spawned two hit singles, Nelly's "#1" and Dr. Dre and DJ Quik's "Put It on Me".

Accolades

Denzel Washington won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2001 (notably beating out Russell Crowe's performance as John Nash for A Beautiful Mind), as well as the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2002 for his performance in Training Day. Ethan Hawke was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2001 for the film.

References

  1. ^ a b "Training Day".
  2. ^ "Man on a mission". Rediff.com. October 2006. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  3. ^ a b "'Training Day' Production Notes". Warner Bros. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  4. ^ "Training Day". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixter. Retrieved 2008-12-15.
  5. ^ Ebert, Roger (October 5, 2001). "Training Day". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  6. ^ "Training Day (2001)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
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